PARKERSBURG, WV — The National Fraternal Order of Police conducted peer support training this week at the Resiliency Center in downtown Parkersburg, teaching law enforcement officers how to help colleagues cope with mental health challenges.Sherri Martin, national director of wellness services for t
JEFFERSON PARISH, LA — The long-standing battle between Jefferson Parish leadership and its firefighters has moved from council chambers to the courtroom, as a newly filed taxpayer lawsuit accuses Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng of illegally using public funds to finance a personal legal vendetta
ORLAND PARK, Ill. — The Orland Professional Firefighters Local 2754 union continues to raise concerns about the fire district’s ability to respond to an increasing number of calls since an ambulance went offline in June, despite the new fire chief’s assertions the additional ambulance is not needed.
LOS ANGELES, CA — One year after the Los Angeles Fire Department was beaten back from containing a wind-fueled wildfire that wiped out a massive swath of Pacific Palisades, the union representing firefighters who were hindered by hydrants that were tapped dry and a limited number of first responders
OMAHA, NE — Omaha leaders gathered for a public meeting to demand accountability from the Omaha Police Officer’s Association over social media posts they found offensive, while the union remains unapologetic.Leo Lewis II and Kimara Snipes said they organized the discussion to allow the public to giv
In part two of this month’s podcast, Rick offers his predictions for 2026 for three different categories.The economy – boom or bust? (00:02:10)Recruitment and retention – will federal agencies poach local law enforcement officers? (00:14:40)The courts – big changes in equal opportunity. (00:23:37)ht
The Missouri Supreme Court suspended attorney Ryan Christopher McCarty from the practice of law for disclosing confidential client information after his termination as associate general counsel for the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD). McCarty began working for the KCPD in June 2022 and was term
The Missouri Supreme Court suspended attorney Ryan Christopher McCarty from the practice of law for disclosing confidential client information after his termination as associate general counsel for the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD). McCarty began working for the KCPD in June 2022 and was term
Editor’s Note: This is a companion case to the case covered in the article “Wisconsin Deputy Warden Properly Fired For Denigrating Muslims” on p. 3 of the September 2025 issue of Public Safety Labor News.Richard Schneiter began his career with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections in 1977 as a cor
The Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment against Thomas Ray Fleming, a former Boise Police Department lieutenant, holding that a reasonable jury could find he was constructively discharged in retaliation for protected whistleblower activity under the Idaho Protection of Public Employees Act (IPPE
Charles Bozzo was terminated from his position as a corrections officer for the Michigan Department of Corrections in July 2019 after a coworker accused him of harassment. He challenged his termination through his union’s arbitration process, which ended with an arbitrator ruling against him on Marc
For nearly a decade, a public Google document titled “The Church and the End Time,” written by the Jail Administrator for the Muscatine County Sheriff’s Office in Iowa, Dean Naylor, sat online. Therein, Naylor detailed his post-tribulation Rapture beliefs, predicting an impending world war that he a
A former police department employee’s unfair labor practice charges against her union were dismissed as untimely after a New York PERB Director ruled that the statute of limitations began when the union first clearly refused to represent her, not when it ignored her later, repeated requests.Sanja Dr
The Policemen’s Benevolent Labor Committee repeatedly sought information from the City of East St. Louis, Illinois, throughout bargaining between the parties in late summer and fall of 2022. The requests, sent on August 4, sought department headcounts by division, the current city budget, correspond
John Holguin worked as a corrections officer for the City of Henderson, Nevada, for eleven years. Holguin contracted COVID-19 in June 2021 after close contact with an ill coworker. He was hospitalized twice; once for initial treatment and again for a 23-day inpatient stay involving hypoxia, pneumoni
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of a firefighter seeking workers’ compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder, finding that his experience of twice performing unsuccessful CPR on infants constituted an “abnormal working condition.” The Commonwealth Court reversed the Worker
Marcos Padilla, an eighteen-year veteran correctional officer at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility, entered Building A of the prison and found that the standard security equipment was not in operation. He walked past the inactive machines into a secure area known as B Control, where the d
A look back, a look ahead.We took January 1 off for the New Year’s Day holiday, so this First Thursday episode is posting on the second Thursday. We will be posting a bonus episode on the third Thursday (and you thought there were no more Christmas gifts coming).This episode will cover what Rick thi
NEW YORK, NY — The NYPD swore in 1,000 new recruits on Wednesday, bolstering its ranks after a year of heavy attrition rate — but the city’s biggest police union says the department is still not doing enough to stem the tidal wave of retirements within the current rank-and-file this year.The latest
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah has repealed a collective bargaining ban passed earlier this year that prevented labor unions serving teachers, firefighters, police and other public employees from negotiating on behalf of their workers.Republican Gov. Spencer Cox on Thursday approved the repeal of a policy th
DALLAS — Members of the Dallas Police Association (DPA) voted this past weekend to remove longtime president Jamie Castro from office, electing Sean Pease as the new leader of the city’s largest police association.Castro, who declined to step down amid an ongoing investigation, ran for another term
LANSING, MI. — The city of Lansing will not renew Fire Chief Brian Sturdivant’s contract when it expires at the end of the year.WILX reported the decision comes as the city and fire department face a lawsuit alleging Sturdivant violated the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act after he asked two male fir
After months of back-and-forth, Austin has OK’d a four-year labor contract with the Austin Firefighters Association.The hope is that the $63 million deal will boost recruitment at the Austin Fire Department by increasing wages and adjusting staff schedules. Those schedule adjustments are intended to
The union representing Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority firefighters is calling for the agency’s charter to be amended to increase firefighter pay.IAFF Local 3217, which represents MWAA Fire and Rescue Department personnel at both Reagan National and Dulles International Airports, publishe